Club says Halladay is progressing well

LOS ANGELES -- The Phillies announced late Thursday night that Roy Halladay can step up his throwing program.

Halladay had surgery on his right shoulder in May, but after a visit with Dodgers physician Neal ElAttrache on Thursday the Phillies said Halladay is progressing well.

ElAttrache is pleased with Halladay's current program and strength, they said.

The Phillies have said there is a chance Halladay could pitch again this season, but late August seems to be the earliest he could be back.

Phils pick up defensive-minded IF McDonald from Tribe

LOS ANGELES -- The Phillies consider Freddy Galvis a future everyday middle infielder, which is why they acquired infielder John McDonald on Thursday in a trade with the Indians.

The Phillies will send a player to be named or cash considerations for McDonald, whom the Indians designated for assignment Wednesday. McDonald, 38, has hit just .053 (2-for-38) with the Pirates and Indians this season, but he is known as a solid defender and good clubhouse guy.

The Phillies optioned Galvis to Triple-A Lehigh Valley to make room for McDonald on the 25-man roster. They also outrighted catcher Steven Lerud off the 40-man roster to make room for him there.

"He gives us a solid defensive backup," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "He's not an offensive player. He's not here to be an offensive player. He gives us a little depth in our infield."

Why Galvis? Well, the Phillies want him to play every day. Galvis had been regulated to the bench with Chase Utley, Jimmy Rollins and Michael Young playing every day.

Depending on what the Phillies do before the July 31 Trade Deadline, Galvis could be back in an everyday role in the near future.

"I think Freddy has to have some at-bats," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "And I think, you know, it's hard to take Freddy and let him play every now and then if you think he's going to reach our expectations of him. When we evaluate him, we think he has a good chance of being a hell of a player. If he's going to stay here and only play once a week or something like that, that ain't enough. That's definitely not enough. But we'll see."

"We've been attracted to him for a long time," Amaro said of McDonald. "I think when I talked to him today I told him, it's been five or six years trying to get the guy just because of the defensive skills he has and because of the reputation he's had over the years and knowing what type of teammate he is. He's the type of guy we like to acquire."

Amaro biding time to see whether Phils buy or sell

LOS ANGELES -- Ruben Amaro Jr. said Thursday he sees the Phillies taking their deadline decisions all the way to the July 31 Trade Deadline.

Thank some relatively mediocre play in the National League East for that.

"The only reason why I say that is because it's still really dicey," he said in the visitors' dugout at Dodger Stadium. "No one has really stepped out and gone crazy. We're only seven back. We had one streak where we've really played well and we've only had a fairly brief time where we've had our team on the field. We'll find out. I honestly think it's going to end up going to July 20 or 30 or somewhere around then when we'll decide which direction we're going to go."

The Phillies continued a 10-game road trip Thursday with their series opener against the Dodgers. The Dodgers have been playing better recently, winning five consecutive games. Following the Dodgers series, the Phillies play a three-game series in Pittsburgh. The Pirates entered the night tied with the Cardinals for the best record in baseball.

The Phillies finish their play before the All-Star break with a 10-game homestand against the Braves, Nationals and White Sox.

Since the Braves started the season 12-1, they are just 33-33. The Phillies are 32-33 in that same stretch, while the Nationals are 31-32.

"We all get spoiled," Amaro said. "We think that winning is just going to happen. We seem to forget that people have to perform for teams to win. It doesn't happen on paper. You can make predictions all you want. The fact of the matter is, people have to play and you have to be lucky. Some teams get unlucky and some teams don't get performance.

"Look at Cole Hamels. I would like somebody to tell me he would be 2-11. It's hard to imagine. Same thing with Cliff Lee last year. Baseball is an amazingly crazy game. I still think [Hamels] is one of the best left-handers in the game. It just hasn't happened for him this year, for whatever reason. Performance. Luck. Mojo. It's just a crazy game. We'd be talking about how you're going to improve this team to make this run. We'd be having totally different discussions if we had small tweaks in performance."

Phillies great Daulton to have brain surgery

LOS ANGELES -- Former Phillies catcher Darren Daulton, the undisputed leader of the popular 1993 National League championship team, has been diagnosed with two brain tumors and will have surgery next week.

"We're saddened by the news about Darren," Phillies president David Montgomery said in a statement. "Our thoughts and prayers are with him and his family at this time. We, along with our fans, are praying for a full recovery."

Daulton, 51, played with the Phillies from 1983-97 before finishing his career with a World Series championship with the Florida Marlins. He made the National League All-Star team in 1992, 1993 and 1995 and finished in the top 10 in NL Most Valuable Player Award voting in 1992 and 1993.

The Associated Press said Daulton, who had been hosting a radio show on 97.5 The Fanatic in Philadelphia the past four years, had not been feeling well the last few weeks before he saw a doctor.

"Shocked, number one," said Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr., who played with Daulton from 1992-93 and 1996-97. "I'm disappointed, number two. All I can do is think about him and pray for him. I was a very, very close friend for a lot of years when I played with him as a teammate and even since then. I hadn't heard anything about it. I guess some people knew something was going on. It's sad. It's very sad. All I can do is pray and hope."

"I think [former Phillies manager] Jim Fregosi did an amazing job," Amaro said. "I wasn't in the organization at the time when Jim kind of empowered him to be the guy. Dutchie has always been kind of a fun-loving guy. He liked to have a good time, but I think there was a time when Jim felt ... my understanding the process was he kind of anointed him the leader. He gave him the responsibility of taking the team under his own wing, which he did very, very well. I remember sitting in the clubhouse myself, if you screwed up on the field, if you did something he didn't like, all he had to do is look at you. You knew you screwed up and you knew you would be expected not to screw up again."

Adams opts against surgery for now

LOS ANGELES -- Phillies right-hander Mike Adams will try to rehab his injured right shoulder rather than have surgery, although it remains unlikely he pitches again this season.

The Phillies said Adams, who has multiple tears in his shoulder, will begin PRP (platelet rich plasma) injection therapy Friday. Dodgers physician Neal ElAttrache will administer the injections.

"We'll know more about what he's going to do and the prognosis after that once he does the injection," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "He's going to be down for a significant amount of time. I just don't know how long."

Todd Zolecki is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.